Total Solar Eclipse 2010

[kohjb]

Hi everyone,

I was fortunate enough to experience the total eclipse on July 11, 2010. The location was exotic Easter Island, which in itself is a very interesting travel destination full of history and perhaps mystique. The strange heads called Moais, number more than 900 around the island, almost all of them facing inland to protect the villagers with their mana.

The day before the eclipse was totally cloudy with heavy rain. The typical "whiteout" that we're accustomed to in Singapore. However, by the night, strong winds had cleared most of the clouds and by morning of the eclipse, only scattered clouds, strong winds, and light rain remained.

We originally had a site selected at a private farm, but due to the heavy rains, that place had turned into an unusable bog. An alternate site was selected which was with a team from National Geographic. They had a huge satellite dish transmitter in the field which we had to stay away from.

At first contact, clouds just blocked the Sun so I was not able to see that. However, the clouds quickly moved on and for the rest of the eclipse, the skies were a pristine blue with only patchy clouds. This provided one of the best eclipse views for me, with about 4 min. 41 seconds of totality. My only other perfect total eclipse was in Dunhuang in 2008 with 1 min 20 seconds, but somehow this one felt even shorter.

During the partial phase, many people pointed out the eclipse "shadows" cast between the foilage of trees and bushes. From about 15 minutes before totality, the sky began taking on a serene twilight glow - giving the perceptible feeling that something was amiss with the Sun. Two sun spots could be seen on the surface of the Sun. A group member had laid out a white sheet on the ground, and just before totality, shadow bands were observed.

During totality, the sky turned suddenly dark, though not pitch black. The Sun became a black disc hovering in the sky with coronal streamers emanating outwards, seemingly alive. Through my trusty 66mm telescope, solar prominences could be clearly seen at about the 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock positiions. These appeared purplish-orange and very clearly defined.

Before I knew it, totality was over and the diamond ring effect seemed to be suspended in the sky for several seconds. A roar from the crowd erupted as everyone celebrated witnessing one of the most awe-inspiring and rare astronomical events. The energy in the crowd was electrifying, and many people hugged each other and gave high fives for a very successful eclipse observation. All this while the world cup finals was on TV no less than 10m away, made this one of the most memorable eclipse experiences!

Joo Beng

[Gary]

WOAH!! Looking forward to a new youtube video from you for this eclipse. The previous one you uploaded was amazing to say the least. Also looking forward to 18 July when we can start buying stuff again.

Here's a nice video of the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zyQUPXKv8

[guangwei]

wow nice, really admire you can go to every eclipse event

[kohjb]

More photos from the trip for your enjoyment (hopefully :-) )

[universe24]

Not a bad attempt on the corona HDR. The corona extended quite away from the Sun...Wow!

[superiorstream]

Hi,Joo Beng
Good work--execellent photo.Wish could get such photos of the sun daily and hence can workout the sun energy pattern and how it change with the seasons/solar cycle on the sun!.

[Chris]

Wow! Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, the next eclipse in sg will not be in our lifetime....

[Airconvent]

No wonder astrobargains not in recently.
Nice shot and nice trip too. Don't think I will ever have a chance to see one of these.
I presume the pollution-free night sky must be equally spectacular too?